First Red Bull Cascade Contest Brought World’s Best Male and Female Freestyle Skiers to Ultimate Course in Winter Park, Colorado.
Red Bull Cascade, the new freeski competition from the mind of Bobby Brown, concluded on Saturday, April 22nd after two-days of epic skiing by world renowned athletes. The bracket-style contest saw 14 men and women freeskiers put down their best top-to-bottom run on a course designed to challenge every discipline of skier. In the end, Olympian Alex Hall and professional skier Grace Henderson were crowned the champions.
“These past few days of the contest have seen some of the most creative skiing of the season,” said event visionary Bobby Brown. “After years of planning this event, it’s amazing to see it finally come to life. Alex and Grace truly put down runs that complemented their styles and took advantage of the course design.”
From April 21st to April 22nd, skiers dropped into a two-mile course by Bobby and legendary course builder Charles Beckinsale. The course was located on Winter Park Resort’s Vasquez Ridge incorporating natural elements alongside man made jumps, hips and rails. Each run was judged on a points based system on Creativity, Speed, Choice of line, Difficulty, and Energy – with a total of 50 points possible per run.
The first round of the contest saw matchups with all of the men, with six moving on to the finals the following day. Jaw-dropping performances by Alex Hall, Birk Irving, Blake Wilson, Hunter Hess, Konnor Ralph and Mac Forehand clinched spots to the next round.
In the men’s semi-finals, close matchups ensued. Smooth and creative runs by Hall, Hess and Forehand advanced them to the finals. The two women riders automatically completed a three-run finals heat. Below are the final results and judges’ scores.
“Red Bull Cascade was a great end-of-season contest to bring out the creativity in all of us,” said men’s overall champion Hall. “The course perfectly blended elements that we see in backcountry, like riding through the trees, to monster jumps and gaps in slopestyle. It really had something for all of us to own and create a flow with.”
Bobby created Red Bull Cascade after recognizing a gap in today’s ski competitions. He spent most of his life pushing the envelope with technical tricks in slopestyle and big air, but transitioning to film segments and backcountry riding opened his eyes to the creativity and progression that can come out of a totally blank slate.
Sensing a gap between the contest circuit and backcountry riding, he dreamed of a format that could blend both styles and find the best all-around skier. The three-day event, consisting of one practice day and two contest days, brought out the world’s best male and female skiers to compete on a unique course that blends natural elements with manmade features.
“It was such a good time riding altogether in such great conditions,” said Henderson, the women’s champion. “The energy was unmatched being able to jam with all these amazing skiers. Seeing everyone put down some technical and flowy runs really helped me level up my skiing too. I definitely look forward to coming back next year.”